BINGO !
I make that three.
The F35 should be halted immediately.
The reason (this is my Spidey-Sense talking here) that The Usurper’s admin put all their eggs in the F35 basket is because they *knew* that it would be a hugely expensive and ineffective boondoggle that would put the US in an untenable position for decades.
Every decision of this administration should be viewed as if it was being made by our most bitter enemy. These decisions only make sense when you consider their potential to hurt us.
Our current inventory of airplanes (with updated avionics of course) is the best at what they do - each in his own way.
No better ground support than the A10.
No better dogfighter than the F16.
No better long range interceptor than the F22.
No better fighter/bomber than the F15SE.
And of course the B52 - because B52!
I just did some quick seat of the pants calculations.
Based on a rough construction cost of $20MM per plane for the 1,500 new fighters and the average Federal benefits currently paid to illegal aliens we can recoup the cost on a ten year average by deporting right around 240,000 illegals. (That’s individuals - or roughly 60,000 families. Wouldn’t want to separate them now would we?)
If we did that each year, we could also pay for the maintenance and sweeten the deal with a few F22s after the first couple of years.